I'm back from being the brains of the giant robot. Of course it's not really a robot, just a huge machine that could give King Kong a run for his money. Or maybe that new Cloverfield monster. Earlier in the night I was operating a much older shovel, which is 33 years old and really really run down. But as much of a pile of crap as it is, it can still dig. It's basically the exact same technology, just without computers. In fact, the principle of power shovels has changed little since Fred Flintstone's time, and hardly at all since Mike Mulligan's time, just that now, instead of steam, they are powered by electricity, or in some cases, diesel. We're getting a hydraulic diesel shovel in a few months, that will be cool.
I often think it wouldn't really be that hard to adapt shovel technology to make a working AT-AT. I couldn't do it, but maybe you could. I know where there's a supply of 33-year-old parts you could scrounge.